During the Group of 7 summit in Canada, US President Donald Trump repeated a false narrative attributing the expulsion of Russia from the G8 to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump claimed, “He was thrown out by Trudeau, who convinced one or two people, along with Obama,” implying Trudeau’s involvement in Russia’s ousting post-Crimea annexation in 2014. This assertion is historically inaccurate; Trudeau took office in November 2015, well after Russia’s expulsion was already decided by Trudeau’s predecessor, Stephen Harper, who led the charge for Russia’s exclusion.
At the time of Russia’s removal, Trudeau’s Liberal Party was not the dominant opposition party in Canada’s legislative assembly. Trump’s comments came while standing beside Mark Carney, who succeeded Trudeau as the Liberal leader.
In addition to misrepresenting Trudeau’s role, Trump made additional erroneous statements during the summit, including mistakenly describing a trade agreement with the UK as one with the EU, which the UK no longer belongs to following Brexit. He also incorrectly stated that former President Joe Biden had provided $350 billion in aid to Ukraine, a figure that lacks substantiation. Data from the Kiel Institute indicates that the actual US commitment to Ukraine from January 2022 to April 2025 is closer to $138 billion in military, financial, and humanitarian aid.
Moreover, Trump reiterated a claim that Biden allowed “21 million people to come into our country.” This figure is also inaccurate; official records indicate that under Biden’s tenure until December 2024, there were fewer than 11 million recorded encounters with migrants across the border, which includes those quickly expelled. Even when factoring in approximations of undocumented individuals who were not apprehended, the total does not come close to Trump’s estimate.
Overall, Trump’s speech was marked by a series of inaccuracies regarding both international relations and immigration statistics, highlighting ongoing discrepancies in his public statements.